Recent Comments

It is not necessary to drag other languages into this discussion. English isn't determined based on Danish, Latin, or any other language. The sentence "It is I" does not at all sound stilted, pedantic, and unnatural to me. "It's I" definitely does sound stilted, pedantic, and unnatural to me.

The claim for using the nominative with a copula is from Latin, as is the claim not to split an infinitive, since in Latin an infinitive is one word. We are not bound by Latin, just as we are not bound by German or Danish.

If we are open to dragging another language in, let's note that in French, which much more is related to Latin than is English, the objective comes after the copula, as in "C'est moi." If the French can use the nominative, why not English speakers also? As a matter of fact, I dare say a survey based solely on unguarded usage would show that "It is me" far exceeds "It is I." Even so, I would caution those who claim usage dictates grammar rules. If that were true, we would accept "He drives slow" and "I could care less," each a clear mistake, not correct grammar or formation.

"(at least for a Brit, such as myself)!" Wrong. "such as me". You can't use the reflexive unless you already have yourself in the sentence.

Just because a dictionary accepts usage as its standard doesn't make it correct. They just bend with the wind. They probably also show dynamic as a noun, flagship as any important thing, graphic as shocking, "mano a mano" as face to face, metrics as statistics, personify as represent ("This brand personifies our company"), reinvent as improve, surreal as interesting, über as cool, and appocrophal as important. One hundred years ago, a dictionary served the purpose of directing. Now it only reflects how the common people speak, even if they are just making things up as they go along.